tristan hole
Member Since: 27 Jan 2006
Location: france
Posts: 4
  
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| repeated breakdowns with new Discovery 3 |
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I have driven the new diesel Discovery for less than 4000 miles and it has twice broken down in the fast lane .At least 4 times, the on board computer has advised me that I had limited access to gears and the car was stuck in low gear( it is an automatic).It has refused to accelerate when trying to overtake a bus on a mountain road( going downhill) and the local dealer in Cannes can only suggest that I switch off the engine each time I get a problem and this should sort it out.Oddly enough it does until the next time.
Land Rover UK have been useless and have only recoomend that I return to the local dealer who does not know what to do.
It is the worst car I have ever had from a breakdown point of view.
Has anyone else had transmission or repeated electronic faults as I have now been advised to get the local dealer to install a patch ? Tristan Hole
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 27th Jan 2006 1:53 pm |
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MVS
Member Since: 18 Jul 2005
Location: People's Republic of Yorkshire
Posts: 419
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Sorry to hear of your problems.
To anwser them. Yes several of us have suffered electronic problems in varying systems to varying degrees.
Your dealer is correct that a restart will 'reboot' the ECU's to allow you to continue a journey.
Your power loss issue could be caused by one of several known problems, usually faulty sensors on the engine, fuel system, or transmission, or possibly a wiring issue or even with a software update. So make sure you get it in to them and get them to speak to LR technical specifically if they can't find the issue on their internal technical bulletin system.
Don't let them fob you off with, 'We don't know', 'We've not seen that before', or 'They all do that Sir'. Please don't take no for an anwser, as these problems usually are easily sorted.
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| 27th Jan 2006 2:17 pm |
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tristan hole
Member Since: 27 Jan 2006
Location: france
Posts: 4
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Thanks for the advice.My problem is that I live near Cannes althgough the car is registrered in the UK.Land Rover UK do not want to know and Land Rover France do not undertand the problem(s).They have had the car 5 times in 7 weeks and frankly area trying their best but are lost.Hence,I tried to get L/R UK to help.
I am not convinced that the dealers are well trained by L/R as the car also broke down near Turin and they replaced a pump when the fault turned out to be a fuel gauge Tristan Hole
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| 27th Jan 2006 4:13 pm |
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BN
Member Since: 18 Mar 2005
Location: Here
Posts: 6463
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Hello Tristan hole and welcome. Join the club, many of us have had errors and breakdowns. Many have rejected the car and received new ones, so you are not alone. Having said that many other makes of cars have problems so the disco3 is not alone either.
Software updates are not always the answer, just an easy answer for the dealer to give you. They need to find the cause and many faults are caused by silly things, such as the steering wheel slip ring, so it can be a bit of search to find the problem.
Best of luck.
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| 27th Jan 2006 4:16 pm |
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simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
  
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BN wrote:... many of us have had errors and breakdowns. Many have rejected the car and received new ones, so you are not alone. Having said that many other makes of cars have problems so the disco3 is not alone either.
And to add a bit of balance BN... many more of us have had no serious problems only the odd niggle if even that.
We don't want to appear to be saying that the D3 is a piece of unreliable kit and that they are all going wrong.
-s
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| 27th Jan 2006 4:30 pm |
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tristan hole
Member Since: 27 Jan 2006
Location: france
Posts: 4
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Simon,
I like the car but it is dangerous when it stops for no reason in the fast lane of a motorway ( twice) and refuses to accelarte going downhill.I have had about 20 cars in my life ranging from Porche , Bentley ,Range Rover,Daimler,Mercs and many others like Cortina's etc and never had more than one breakdown in any of them.Those were the days when I was travelling 40,000 miles a year.I have not completed 4500 miles in this car yet.When the dealers do not know what is wrong and it keeps going back( it stopped again 2 days ago), then you have to ask yourself if it is worth going on.I am pleased for you that your car works well as it looks a good car and has everything in it that should make it an excellent car.Perhaps the reason for the lack of professional backing from L/R is that it is owned by Fords Tristan Hole
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| 27th Jan 2006 5:06 pm |
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simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
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I feel your pain... my last car an Audi A4 Quattro Avant had a similar issue... power would just disappear. After a restart it would be fine. Before that my BMW 330i had issues with electric's too...
Audi fault raced to a faulty accelerator pedal sensor after 4 trips to the dealer and each time them having the car for two days to 'test' - like the D3 it was all drive by wire with no accelerator cable involved at all.
One issue is the dealer network... some are great, some are average, some are useless. Again not manufacturer specific but down to the staff at the dealer and their focus on customer service.
Dealer training was a big problem at first but I think most are pretty good now depending as I said on how they are customer focused. Mine is great, some will go by the book and not try anything beyond the fault diagnosis flow charts.
Good luck and it may well worth a trip to a UK dealer who knows what they are doing. Sure someone here can recommend one closer than mine in Shropshire.
Cheers
-s
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| 27th Jan 2006 5:34 pm |
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jeff
Member Since: 18 Jun 2005
Location: Cornwall
Posts: 393
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Tristan that's a shocking tale, not only inconvenient but downright dangerous, reject the car, buy something reliable ( and safe) and come back when (if) LRhave sorted these issues out. My D3 is excellent, done over 15000 reliable miles although LR managed to service in a fault at its first service! I love the car but the more I read the less I like.
Good Luck
Jeff D3 TDV6SE
Defender 110 V8 lpg
www.carlyonbay.net
www.thepavillioncarlyonbay.co.uk
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| 27th Jan 2006 7:18 pm |
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simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
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jeff wrote:I love the car but the more I read the less I like.
As I said more are happy than unhappy... just check out other forums for other vehicles of ALL types.
This site and others will highlight problems with lots of discussion around them too... but how many posts do you see saying "I drove my -insert vehicle here- today and it produced no error messages and I had no mechanical problems" ?
Be a boring site if it did. And most of the traffic on here is either general stuff or off topic (any other senior members wanna chip in here ?).
Same as all other manufacturers to be honest.
We all hate having issues and of course if we do have major / alarming ones then we will naturally shout and debate to the nth degree.
And of course we all sympathise and will offer as much help as we can when issues crop up.
So for me 34700 miles and no breakdowns... been off road too in places most owners would not dare.
So far ALL my LR have been reliable and have never let me down - even having 3 Freelander's - the so called master of un-reliability - I never broke down.
The Audi and BMW did, so go figure eh ?
Sorry to go on but those reading and looking for a D3 should not worry or be overly alarmed at what they read here. These forums were made to debate the bad times and offer users self help, advice, tips, ways to get your dealer to do stuff for you etc etc
Cheers
-s
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| 27th Jan 2006 7:53 pm |
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simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
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I only speak from experience and from being around this infernal D3 forum since the early days 
TA
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| 27th Jan 2006 8:05 pm |
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10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
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totally agree, the compressed design - to - production time required these days doesn't help either, all driven by the consumer of course it's a bit like wanting everything to be cheaper then whingeing when British manufacturing is in it's death throes and the majority of goods in British shops are imported from China  we have a collective responsibility.
Yep, i've had issues, minor to me, but I accept it as the penalty for having the bleeding edge of vehicle technology and a vehicle that is truly the best 4x4xfar
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| 27th Jan 2006 8:13 pm |
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jeff
Member Since: 18 Jun 2005
Location: Cornwall
Posts: 393
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Simon I agree with what you say, I repeat I love my D3 its the most capable all round vehicle I've ever driven by some margin, but to have dangerous faults like those described means a rejection ever time, take it back to the dealer and kick him in the car sales! D3 TDV6SE
Defender 110 V8 lpg
www.carlyonbay.net
www.thepavillioncarlyonbay.co.uk
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| 27th Jan 2006 9:32 pm |
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simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
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Jeff... sorry mate on your side and agree too
Just don't want potential D3 / LR3 owners thinking the thing is all bad as its not.
Cheers
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| 27th Jan 2006 9:39 pm |
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jeff
Member Since: 18 Jun 2005
Location: Cornwall
Posts: 393
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Not a problem Simon, I feel disloyal knocking what is an outstanding vehicle. I drove from Cornwall to London and back in horrendous weather ( it was the first day of Glastonbury festival, when it was flooded out) the car was superb, nothing fazed it, I was relaxed and a better driver for it on the day.
Sounds daft but I would really miss it.
Cheers
Jeff D3 TDV6SE
Defender 110 V8 lpg
www.carlyonbay.net
www.thepavillioncarlyonbay.co.uk
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| 27th Jan 2006 9:51 pm |
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